Ipswich 0 – 1 C Palace

Jean-Philippe Mateta’s fine second-half goal gave Crystal Palace their first away league win of the season with a 1-0 victory at fellow strugglers Ipswich.

Mateta’s wonderful chip finish in the 59th minute was the only moment of quality at Portman Road between two teams at the wrong end of the table.

The Frenchman almost scored a second but Arijanet Muric made a good save, although his goal was enough to take the Eagles three points above the relegation zone, leaving Ipswich second in the table and two points clear of safety.

The home side, who lacked threat in Saturday’s defeat at Nottingham Forest, once again struggled to create much, although Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson did well to parry Harry Clarke’s header in the first half to keep the goal scoreless, while Jacob Greaves headed his head against the post late on.

Kieran McKenna’s side are still looking for their first home league win since returning to the Premier League.

But Palace, who showed solid defense in the win, are on the right track with Oliver Glasner’s side unbeaten in three games.

Could Palace and Guehi have problems with FA?

Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi could find himself in trouble with the Football Association after he wore another religious message on his rainbow captain’s armband.

The 24-year-old took to the pitch in Ipswich with the message “Jesus loves you” on his rainbow armband.

It came just three days after the defender’s armband bore the words “I love Jesus” during their game against Newcastle, prompting the FA to contact Guehi and Palace to remind them of the governing body’s strict rules on religious messages .

But Guehi, who has spoken about his religious beliefs in the past, appears to have doubled down on the gesture.

The FA has so far declined to comment on whether a repeat performance by Guehi could lead to charges.

Palace boss Oliver Glasner addressed the issue after the game, saying: “We respect every player and especially Marc. He’s our captain.”

“Everyone knows he’s a great guy, very humble, and I don’t think we should make him bigger than he is. In football we are all against discrimination and it is a great campaign.”

“We talked about it. He’s not a child, he’s an adult, he has his opinion and we respect it.”

Meanwhile, Ipswich captain Sam Morsy did not wear the rainbow armband again. This was part of the Premier League’s campaign to show support for people in the LGBTQ+ community, as he opted out over the weekend due to his religious beliefs.

Mateta strikes again for Palace

Mateta (28 goals) has become Crystal Palace’s third highest goalscorer in the Premier League (level with Luka Milivojevic), with only Wilfried Zaha (68) and Christian Benteke (35) scoring more for the Eagles in the competition.

Since Glasner’s first game as Crystal Palace manager, only Erling Haaland (17) and Yoane Wissa (16) have scored more goals without a penalty in the Premier League than Mateta (15).

Glasner: We are on the right track

Crystal Palace Boss Oliver Glasner Speech at his post-match press conference:

“I am very happy, we are all very happy with the result, it was not the best performance but the result was more important.”

“We controlled the game most of the time and scored a great goal, a fantastic finish from JP (Mateta).

“We had more chances to decide the game but couldn’t do it, but I think the win was well deserved. We didn’t give them any chances in the game and with a clean slate you can always win.”

“It’s a big victory. Now is not the time to sit back and relax, but to move on. In four days we face Manchester City. We remain humble. There is still a lot to improve, but we are on the right track.”

McKenna: We can do better

Ipswich Boss Kieran McKenna Speech at his post-match press conference:

“A frustrating evening. It was a tight first half, we didn’t have a great flow of the game and didn’t create as many chances as we wanted. But our opponents didn’t do that either.”

“We conceded a really bad goal in the second half and that proved decisive. We can do better than we did.”

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